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CALGARY — Gingerly, somebody asked Calgary Flames' coach Mike Keenan about the final 10 minutes of an hour-long Tuesday afternoon practice, in which his players — divided into red and black teams — were put through their skating paces hard.
It was the first of three days between games and sometimes, in those situations, a team will be told to stay away from the rink and decompress. But the Flames were coming off back-to-back-to-back 4-1 losses, three miserable performances in a row that left them sitting with just six wins after 15 games, so there was work to be done — special teams' practice followed by a scrimmage.
But to confuse that final exercise with a legitimate grind-them-into-the-ice bag skate — of the kind that Keenan is known for?
No …
"Not even close," said Keenan — and encouraged by laughs all around, continued: "You haven't been around — and I performed some of the best in the world.
"That wasn't even close - and I haven't done that for awhile. Not even close; don't even put it on the radar. Are you kidding me?
"I'll tell you the last time I did that — the fall of 1993. Seriously. They weren't playing nearly to expectations. Give Mr. Lowe a call."
Mr. Lowe — Edmonton Oilers' general manager Kevin — has his own problems to worry about, not something that happened to the New York Rangers in a year when they eventually won the Stanley Cup. Keenan dropped that little nugget casually into the conversation, a sly way of pointing out that even championship teams can have a rough spot or two along the way.
Keenan watchers in these parts have been waiting for the inevitable eruption, any sign that the legendary Iron Mike was ready to lose it on his up-and-down Flames' squad. So far, there's been none of that — and what passes for frustration has been mild compared to what coach Craig MacTavish may be saying about his Oilers or Alain Vigneault about his Vancouver Canucks.
It isn't clear if this is a kinder, gentler Keenan or simply a craftier version, someone who knows that all eyes will be on him when things go wrong — and he refuses to take the bait and go bananas in public.
The Flames were wildly outclassed in all three of their most recent losses which prompted the feverish question: Would this be the day? At times, they look slow and at other times lethargic. The only thing they had early — scoring — dried up in that span too.
Of the 14 forwards on their NHL roster, eight have either one or zero goals. A ninth, Craig Conroy, has just two. That leaves the scoring mostly in the hands of five players and even the ones that were off to fine starts (Daymond Langkow, Kristian Huselius) have slowed up of late.
Team captain Jarome Iginla contributed the only goals in each of the past two games and is among the league leaders in most statistical categories. He hasn't been the problem. In fact, he has been everything the Flames hoped for when they signed him to a five-year, $35 million contract extension this past summer. But he can't be on the ice all the time and when he isn't, they need some scoring help from the supporting cast.
Compounding the misery is the uncertainty over defenceman Dion Phaneuf, one of their top defencemen, who is hobbled by a leg injury. If the problem is at all serious, it will undermine their mobility and physical play on defence, heading into a stretch of games against divisional opponents.
Despite Keenan's protestations to the contrary, Iginla said the message of Tuesday's practice came through crystal clear.
"We're not happy and the coaching staff's not happy, especially in the last game, where we got outworked and out-competed. Things have to change and they have to change now. I think that was part of the message for sure."
Iginla could not put his finger on why they were outclassed so badly by Colorado, other than to suggest: "It was a bad game for us. Right now, we have to work on our consistency and be ready to compete with the other teams. There are things — like our goals-against that we need to bring down — but it's got to start with a harder effort. And we all know that in our room."
Still, this is the point in the season where the Flames have surged before and Iginla believes they can do it again.
"We know we've been inconsistent. We've had good games followed by bad games. We just need to string things together. We know we're capable of more."
Even though the Flames are largely a veteran group, Keenan thinks the problem might be between the ears.
"It takes persistence and dedication and commitment and leadership to continue to get better," he said. "The idea, for this franchise, is yes, they were a playoff team, but they had a first-round exit. Yes, they were a playoff team the previous year, but they had a first-round exit. Prior to that, they went to the finals, but that was a one-time run.
"This group," he concluded, with a ringing clarity that summed up his thoughts nicely, "has a lot to learn about winning."
